How we protect teens

Who can join

• You need to be 13 or older. In Florida, 14 or older.
• Yapp is open only in the US.
• In some US states, a parent or guardian has to agree before you can start. If that’s where you live, the sign-up tells you, and it only happens once. If your parent later takes their agreement back, your account is paused until a parent agrees again or you reach the age where it isn’t needed. See Parents and Guardians for the list of states.

Why everyone has an age check

Your age decides who you can meet. A typed birthday is easy to fake, so everyone takes a short selfie video. Our age check provider estimates your age and checks you’re a real person. Teens don’t need to show an ID.

• We delete the video as soon as the check is done. We keep only the result.
• If the result says you’re older than you are, or it isn’t sure, you can try again. If it’s still wrong, tap “This is wrong” and a person will look at it. We aim to reply within 7 days.
• If the check shows you’re an adult pretending to be a teen, you can’t join a teen group.

Your age group

There are three age groups: 13-15, 16-17 and 18+. You only see and hear from people in your own group. Nobody in another group can see your profile, find you, message you or call you, and you can’t reach them either. This is built into Yapp’s systems, not just the screens.

• When you turn 16, you move to the 16-17 group automatically. Chats with friends who are still 13-15 stay readable, but you can’t send new messages across groups.
• When you turn 18, your account pauses until you pass the adult ID check. Then you can join the adult group. Parent links end at 18.

What’s always on

These protections are on for every teen account:

• Private profile. People who aren’t your friends see less of your profile, and details you set to Friends stay hidden from them.
• New people can only send a chat request. You can read it and reply, or ignore it, and they’re never told you ignored it.
• Direct messages, snaps, voice notes and group chats are for accepted friends only.
• Video calls are only with friends, and only when you both turn calls on for each other. They’re off by default. Video calls are recorded for safety and kept for 30 days, and a recording is opened only after a report, a safety flag or a legal request. Voice calls aren’t recorded.
• To join a group chat, you have to accept the invite.
• Your location shows your country only. We never show a city, a distance or a place on a map.
• No friend suggestions, and nobody gets you suggested to them.
• Read receipts are off.
• Sensitive photos and videos sent to you arrive blurred.
• In a first chat request, teens can’t send links, phone numbers, usernames or invites to other apps.
• Your Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok usernames, if you add them, only show to friends. Your school and height are hidden unless you choose to show them to friends.

What you can change

• Quiet hours: notifications are silent from 9 PM to 7 AM. You can move them a little (start between 8 and 10 PM, end between 7 and 9 AM), but you can’t turn them off.
• Daily time reminder: on at 60 minutes. You can change the time.
• Who sees each profile detail: friends or nobody.
• Take a break: hide your profile for an hour, a day or a week.
• Spending limit: you or a linked parent can set a monthly limit for gems and items. Lowering it applies at once; raising it applies after 24 hours.

Photos and snaps

• Before a photo or video is sent, Yapp checks it. If it looks sexual, teens can’t send it, and we show where to get help.
• Before you send a snap, we remind you that the other person could keep it.
• Snaps are “Protected” by default, which blocks screenshots where your phone allows. Phones can’t always detect screenshots, and someone can always use a second phone. Only send what you’d be okay with someone keeping.
• Making or sharing sexual images of anyone under 18 is against the law, even of yourself. If someone has an image of you, you won’t be in trouble with us for asking for help. See “If something goes wrong”.

Your feed

• Discover shows people your age, in your country. It puts people who are online first, then ends with “That’s all for today”. It doesn’t scroll forever.
• It never ranks people by looks or popularity, and it doesn’t build a profile of you from your behavior. It uses what you told us (like your Pins and school) and whether people were active recently.
• “Why am I seeing this” tells you the real reason for each person.

Spending

Yapp is free, and Yapp has no subscriptions for teens. You can buy Gems, Looks, Boosts, Flash Requests and extra chat requests, with the same limits as everyone. Prices always show in real money, and we never prompt you to buy.

• Where the law says so, you need a parent’s or guardian’s permission to buy. Your app store’s family controls may ask them.
• We never use pop-up offers, countdowns or mystery prizes.
• If you bought something by mistake, ask for a refund through the App Store or Google Play. The Virtual Items and Subscriptions Terms explain how.

Parents and guardians

Linking a parent is your choice everywhere (except for the one-time agreement some states require at sign-up). It doesn’t limit what you can do on Yapp. In a few US states (today Tennessee), the law requires that a verified parent can view your privacy settings, set a daily time limit and schedule breaks. Where that applies, the sign-up tells you, those tools exist in the Parent Portal, and nothing else changes.

• You can invite a parent, or a parent can invite you. You decide whether to accept.
• A linked parent sees: the days you were active and how long you spent, the names of your friends and recent contacts, how many people you blocked or reported, and your privacy and safety settings.
• A parent never sees your messages, photos, voice notes, videos, snaps or stories, or your exact location.
• You always see who is linked, in Settings > Parents and guardians, and you can unlink at any time. If someone says they’re your parent and they’re not, tap “This isn’t my parent” and we end the link and look into it.

Wellbeing

• No streak warnings. Snap streaks are just a quiet number, and you won’t get “you’re about to lose it” messages.
• In Connecticut and Colorado, snap streaks and daily rewards stay off until you turn them on.
• No “someone is online” or “you’re missing out” notifications.
• “Caught up” screens tell you when there’s nothing new.
• The Safety Center has tips and people you can talk to.

If something goes wrong

• Block or report anyone, from their profile, a request, a message, a snap or a story. It’s free and they aren’t told it was you. A real person reads every report about serious harm, usually within 24 hours.
• If someone is threatening you, pressuring you, or asking for images or money: open the chat and tap “Someone is threatening me”, or find it in the Safety Center. Don’t pay and don’t send anything more. Save the conversation, block and report, and tell an adult you trust.
• To get a sexual image of you removed from the internet: Take It Down (takeitdown.ncmec.org) in the US or Report Remove from Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation (childline.org.uk) in the UK. You can also use our Intimate Image Removal form.
• If someone asks you to move to another app or meet in person, that’s a warning sign. You can report it.

People you can talk to, free and confidential:

• US: call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline); text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line); Childhelp 1-800-422-4453; NCMEC CyberTipline 1-800-843-5678 or report.cybertip.org.
• UK: Childline 0800 1111 (childline.org.uk); Samaritans 116 123; text SHOUT to 85258; report online abuse to CEOP at ceop.police.uk.
• In danger right now: call 911 (US) or 999 (UK).

Your privacy

We only collect what we need to run Yapp for you, keep you safe and handle what you buy, and we explain each use in the Privacy Policy. You can download your data, delete your account and ask us questions about your information yourself, without a parent. Write to privacy@joinyapp.app.

Questions

Ask us in Settings > Help and contact, or at support@joinyapp.app.